A few days ago, I asked people to share one word which they thought best described Product Management. There were quite few responses. So, if you participated, thanks for the input. If not, feel free to add your own words in the comments to this posting.
Given the open-ended question, there is really no way to quantify the results. What I tried to do was create groups of related words to see if any patterns or clusters emerged. Where two (or more) submitted words were very similar (e.g. Communicate, Communication), I picked one as the best example.
The words in bold are my own words that I believe best summarize those following words submitted by you. So, in no particular order, here are the results:
Deliver Insight: Clarity, Focus, Organizer, Communication
Plan the Future: Visionary, Strategist, Roadmap, Direction, Innovation
Coordinate the Team: Facilitation, Translation, Bridge, Junction, Middleman, Pillar, Catalyst
Lead the Effort: Owner, CEO, Leader
Identify Needs: Problems, Requirement, Definition, Customer, Listen, User
Show Dedication: Flexible, Quality, Passion
Another set of words described some of the negatives of the role:
- Busy, Sleepless, Multi-Tasking, Chaotic
There was one submission that didn’t adhere to the “one word” requirement. There’s always at least one in the crowd isn’t there. That submission was:
- “Mothering a Product”
And we did have a few responses from skeptics. 🙂 I’ve included them here for completeness. I’m actually pleased I got a few answers like this. It verifies that a diverse crowd reads the blog, including at least one Douglas Adams fan.
- Bullshit, Unnecessary, 42
What’s interesting is that none of the words I use to describe Product Management were in the list of submissions.
Those words are: Balance, Optimization, Repeatable
Saeed